Lords And Ladies

by Void Knight

In Which We Should Like To Know What The Author Was Smoking And Where We May Get Some Of It

At first glance, the Fae emissary appeared to be a perfectly handsome bull moose, with a glossy golden coat, liquid black eyes, and elegantly branching horns. It wasn’t until the second or third glance that Lyra caught the vague sense of wrongness about its appearance, and it wasn’t until the fourth or fifth glance that she pinned down what felt so off. Its appearance was simply too perfect, perfect as no living creature was perfect, without any distinguishing marks or little flaws. It was less like looking at a living thing and more like looking at a very well-made sculpture.

Upon Lyra and Carrot Top entering the room, the creature gave a brief bow.

“Dame Toppington, Dame Heartstrings, greetings and respect from Summer and his fellows.” Though it spoke perfect Equestrian without any discernable accent, even its voice was slightly off. It was deep and mellifluous, but somehow slightly inorganic, as if a cello’s notes or a trumpet’s call had been rendered into words. Lyra struggled to focus past the oddity and figure out what it was actually saying.

The emissary continued its recitation. “In the ancient days, Day and Night did the Lords and Ladies of the fae certain favors, and won from them certain debts which as yet remain unspent. The Voice of the Sun seeks to call in those debts on behalf of his Lady, to compel them to render her aid in her war against her sister. But the debts were owed to Night and Day in equal measure, and so by our laws their invocation should bring equal boon to both sides of this war. As you are the closest two champions of the Night, it is to you I have been dispatched to offer news of this situation, and guidance to the Axis should you wish to seek the respect of the gathered Lords and Ladies of the Fae.”

“The Axis?” asked Carrot Top.

“The Axis is that point around which all the Fae rotates. There all four realms of the Fae meet, and there and there alone may the Lords and Ladies meet as equals and treat upon those matters which affect them jointly.”

“How are they to know that they will be safe? The tales of the perils of the Fae fill many books,” enquired Fredrick pointedly.

The Fae emissary’s laughter seemed as affected as everything else about it. “A wolf does not seek to bring down a dragon, mortal princeling. I address the Knights of the Moon, but my master and his peers have not somehow forgotten that the same vessels hold Generosity and Loyalty. And in any case, the Four have given their word for the safety of Luna’s Knights. Neither the fae nor the Sun’s champions shall be permitted to harm them, so long as they likewise refrain from causing harm. They shall be in no more peril than they freely choose to put themselves in.”

“May we discuss this in private?” asked Lyra.

“Certainly,” replied the emissary.

There was a long moment’s pause once the mortals were alone.

“We have to go,” said Lyra reluctantly. “Corona has been growing more and more active, and if the Fae are half as powerful as the tales I’ve heard suggest, their aid could seriously improve her chances of taking the throne.”

“Luna’s beard,” swore Spear Fisher, his accent thickening with the stress. “Dame Heartstrings, you cannot be serious. My father served in zis part of ze vorld during his time in ze Army, and he used to tell me stories about ze sort of zings ze fae vould get up to. And zat was in zis vorld, in our vorld. Luna alone knows what zey vill do in zeir vorld.”

“You think we want to go?” cut in Carrot Top. “All I wanted was a nice vacation and a chance to see a friend. But this,” she tapped her Element necklace with one hoof, “comes with the duty to go forth on missions like these, whether I really want to go or not. I’d figure you of all ponies would get that.”

“Cолнце ударил жеребенок”, muttered Spear Fisher.

“Of course,” said Bon Bon to nobody in particular. “Of course it was too much to have one bucking vacation without some ancient evil or political conspiracy or minion of the Tyrant Sun popping up and demanding that my marefriend, specifically, go off and once again put herself in harm’s way. Can I at least go with you this time?”

“Bon-Bon!” exclaimed Lyra. “Seriously? You want to go into the depths of the Fae? Even if you’re going to be with me, that’s still crazy.”

“It should be safe, right? That… whatever the buck he was… said that we’d be safe. And at least if I come with you, I won’t have to just sit here worrying about what might be happening to you. Loyalty goes both ways.”

“Actually,” said Lyra, taking a deep breath. “He actually only said that Carrot Top and I were guaranteed safe passage. That might or might not be extended to whatever guests we invite. And if I’m going to get back out of the Fae, I might need you here to give me something to come back to.”

“Huh?” asked Bon Bon, looking confused.

“There’s more than one legend in which somepony got out of weird places like the Fae by concentrating on their love for someone waiting for them back at home. And if anything is likely to work like that, it’s the Element of Loyalty.” replied Lyra.

“Ok,” said Fredrick, “if you’re actually going to do this there’s some things you really need to understand. First thing you need to know is that in the Fae, abstracts… aren’t. Hope has weight and texture, dreams can be bottled and distilled, and happiness can be seen and tasted. And the fae can and will bargain in these things. Now, no fae can lie, but you have to be very sure that they actually said what you thought you heard. And don’t make any bargains unless you’re absolutely certain that you understand the terms. There’s a lot of fae magic woven into their bargains, so even deals you wouldn’t think are enforceable become so.”

“Beyond that, you need to be careful not to give offense. One of the things about the fae is that, more than any mortal race, they are ruled by the idea of balance. If they accept a gift from you, they must give an equivalent gift in exchange. Harm them, and they will be not only permitted but compelled to harm you in return. That’s why they’re calling you in at all, as far as I can tell. Their nature demands a balance between Mána and Sunna.”

“As for protections, each of the fae Courts has certain things it cannot abide. Winterfae can’t bear the touch of gold, for example…” His eyes suddenly went wide. “Your armor. Sif’s golden mane, your armor. It’s astranium, right? Starmetal?”

“Uh, yes, it is,” said Lyra. “Why do you ask?”

“Because, for whatever reason, none of the four Courts can abide metal that comes from a fallen star, whether it be astranium or some more mundane ore. Something about the symbolism of star metal is completely anathema to the Fae.”

“But wait,” said Lyra, “Didn’t you just say we should be careful not to give offense? If star-steel is so fundamentally opposed to the Fae, wouldn’t they be offended if we came in wearing it?”

“Lyra!” blurted out Bon Bon.

“That… is a very good point,” admitted Fredrick.

“If the Fae have thought of a way around that safe-conduct guarantee, I can’t imagine even the Princess’s armor could save us. And if they haven’t, then we need to avoid giving offense more than we need the armor,” continued Lyra.

Spear Fisher groaned, but did not object.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fae emissary didn’t seem to have moved a muscle during the time that Lyra, Carrot Top, and everyone else had been away. As soon as they entered the room, the Fae emissary glanced in their direction, face expressionless.

“We’ll go,” said Carrot Top. “If Corona wishes to make a move, we shall counter her.”

The Fae emissary nodded once. “Very good. Please follow me.”

“Question,” interjected Lyra. “If we elected to bring along our Guards, would they be included in your master’s guarantee of safe-conduct?”

“No,” replied the fae emissary. “Day has sent two champions, and so the Lords and Ladies have called for two champions of Night. No more and no less. Your Guards are welcome in the Fae, but they shall have to play by the same rules as any other mortal.”

Carrot Top gulped. She’d been afraid of that. Even with the fae emissary’s guarantee of safety, she’d heard one too many of Fredrick’s stories to be quite comfortable entering the Fae.

The fae emissary trotted out of the audience hall, and Lyra and Carrot Top followed him across the grounds beneath the World Tree, until they came to a circle of standing stones, covered in runes. Once inside the circle, the fae emissary raised one hoof and traced a rune on the empty air, his hoof leaving lines of golden light behind. When finished, the rune flashed and a line of light cut through the air and then expanded to form a doorway of auric magic. On the other side could be seen an expanse of hard-packed dirt, one that after a few body-lengths gave way to lush green grass. In the midst of that grass was a throne of polished wood, dark and rich. Seated upon this throne was a moose stallion, clearly in the prime of life. Or rather, it would have been a moose were it not for the huge eagle’s wings sprouting from its shoulders. The stallion wore no attire except for a gleaming golden crown (Carrot Top flinched just a tad at that sight), and held a goblet of wine in one hoof and a bunch of carrots in the other. A pair of strapping cervid stallions flanked his throne, one carrying a spear and the other a flagon.

Standing between the gateway and the throne were two familiar figures, a red pegasus clad in gleaming golden barding and with a mane seemingly made of crackling flames, and a gray unicorn who seemed somehow to blend into the verdant background behind her.

Of course, thought Carrot Top. Smoke and Kindle. Who else would Corona send? Luna’s mane, if she actually were a Queen, and Kindle really was her herald, this kind of errand really would be his job. I wonder why she didn’t come in person?

“Dame Heartstrings, Dame Toppington,” said Kindle cheerfully, nodding towards Lyra and Carrot Top as they stepped through the portal. “A shame that Dame Raindrops was unavailable. Please convey my compliments to her and remind her that should she manage to survive our Queen regaining her throne, she shall have a place at my side.”

Carrot Top could think of nothing to say to that, though she noticed that Smoke visibly winced. Instead, she glanced around. The dirt seemed to be a perfect circle, and though her eyes insisted the dirt was hard and dry, it still felt oddly yielding beneath her hooves, as though she were standing on a shoal of clay.

To her left, the lush green grass gave way to dead and yellowed grass along a line as straight as an arrow. At the center of the wedge of dead grass, at right angles to the first throne, there stood a second throne. This one also seemed to be of wood, but the wood was gray and dusty, and the throne was draped with cobwebs. On it sat what appeared to be an elderly red deer, an odd misnomer in this case as her coat had long since faded to silver. From her shoulders sprouted wings like those of a vulture and on her brow was a coronet of lead. Faintly glowing bubbles drifted through the air around her.

To Carrot Top’s right, the grass began to be speckled with flowers. This quadrant’s “throne” was little more than a giant pile of cushions, and curled up atop it was a water deer… what did the cervids call their fillies? Carrot Top couldn’t remember... who looked to be about Dinky’s age, with butterfly wings patterned in sky-blue and candy-pink. The filly had what looked like a very large rabbit holding a basket of eggs sprawled in the grass on one side of her throne, and on the other what looked to be a cervid colt. In lieu of a crown the butterfly-winged filly was wearing a wreath of flowers. Flowers with blue petals, and a very familiar shape.

Oh dear merciful Luna, that’s poison joke. This filly’s wearing a wreath of poison joke. And that’s poison joke in the grass there. At least there’s none of it here. Wait… what in Luna’s starry mane are those? They look just like Cheerilee’s cutie mark. Eyes and mouths and everything.

Seeking a distraction from that weirdness, Carrot Top turned to glance behind her. Past where the now-closed portal had been, flowered and dead grass both gave way to drifts of snow with that same eerie precision. Amidst the snow stood a throne of iron, seemingly made entirely out of swords melted and fused together to form a seat. And seated upon that throne was a massive bull elk, one who appeared to be fully mature, past the prime of life but not yet elderly. His thick black coat was marred by numerous scars, scars that on a second glance Carrot Top realized were runes. From his shoulders there sprouted leathery wings, more like those of a bat or thestral than anything else. Upon his head was not a crown but an iron helmet, and a broad-bladed spear was in his hoof.

At the elk bull’s left hoof there stood what appeared to be a slender red deer doe with a lyre in her front hooves, clad in a hooded robe of bright blue. But on the other side of his throne there crouched a guloid, one even bigger than those Lyra and Carrot Top had earlier encountered, and made yet bigger by the blue-tinged steel plate it wore. Carrot Top quickly looked back the other way, choking down her gorge. She was absolutely certain that vomiting in front of the gathered Fae, and Corona’s lieutenants, would be a really bad idea.

“Dame Toppington...” said the bull moose.

“...Dame Heartstrings…” continued the elk without the slightest break.

“...we are pleased that you could join us.” The filly finished the sentence. “I am the Lady of Spring…” she continued.

“...I the Lord of Summer…” said the bull moose.

“…I the Lady of Autumn…” continued the elderly mare.

“… and I the Lord of Winter.” the bull elk finished.

The Lord of Summer took up the dialogue. “While my emissary was conveying our invitation to you, we have conferred amongst ourselves and have come to a decision regarding the method of resolving our impasse.”

The Lady of Autumn continued. “Each of us shall pose a challenge of our own devising for the champions of Sun and Moon, and whichsoever Princess’s champion shall win each challenge, that Princess shall receive some boon from the poser of the challenge in proportion to the debts owed.”

The Lord of Winter spoke once more. “Dame Heartstrings, Dame Toppington, Voice Of The Sun, Apprentice Smoke, are you willing to undertake such challenges as we may set? Subject to the guarantee already given, that we shall put you in no more peril than you freely choose to risk?”

Kindle snorted. “Do you truly believe that I would falter in the mission my Queen set me? She has sent me here, and therefore I must be equal to the challenges you will place before me. Bring on the tests!”

“What he said,” chimed in Lyra, “only without the crazy and the melodrama.”

“I’m ready,” said Carrot Tops.

“As am I,” said Smoke.

“Very well then,” said Lady Autumn. “As always, Lady Spring shall begin.”

Lady Spring squealed with happiness and rolled to the side, tumbling off her pile of cushions to land in the grass in a splay of limbs. She bounced to her feet, grinning manically. “Oh boy oh boy, we’re going to have all kinds of fun with this! What to do, what to do?” The colt leaned in and whispered something in her ear. “Ooh, perfect,” she squeaked, and stomped on the ground with one hoof. Instantly, the ground seemed to slide sideways under Carrot Top’s hooves, and a heartbeat later she, Lyra, Kindle, and Smoke stood amidst a field of bright green grass, flowers of various colors bedecking the sward. Carrot Top instinctively glanced down to confirm that she wasn’t in a patch of poison joke, but thankfully it appeared she was just standing on grass, though it still felt weirdly yielding beneath her hooves.

Carrot Top’s jaw dropped as she stared at her surroundings. The place was dotted with creatures of every sort pursuing all sorts of activities. A short distance away a mixed group of what appeared to be three cervid foals, a large bunny rabbit and a pony filly were chasing bubbles blowing from an enormous wand that was stuck upright in the ground. In a different direction a cervid filly was snacking on a bush that grew brilliant, metallic-colored fruits. On the other side of the bush two more cervid foals were vigorously mating. There a small grove of shrubs had pulled themselves up out of the ground and were dancing with half-a-dozen Springfae. And the air was thick with pixies, drifting here and there like tiny stars. Everywhere Carrot Top looked, creatures of every size and shape engaged in every conceivable or inconceivable activity. And the flora of Spring was as bizarre as its fauna. Aside from the occasional patch of poison joke and the ubiquitous flowers that bore such an eerie resemblance to Cheerilee’s cutie mark, there were also trees growing everything from potatoes to kittens to silver bits, trees that seemed to grow upside down, and more than one tree that seemed to be covered with sexual organs, which the Springfae seemed to be putting to use.

There was a buzzing sound, and…something…flew up. Carrot Top had no idea what it was, but it looked like a giant pony-shaped bug. It was coated in glossy black chitin, though both the chitin and its membranous wings were dotted with holes here and there. Its eyes were a flat blue, without any visible iris or pupil, and were faintly faceted like those of an insect. Its horn was short and thorn-like, without the spiral of a unicorn horn, and was glowing with the same bright acid-green aura as the tray of fruits and flowers, some familiar and some wholly unfamiliar, it was levitating in front of it.

“Care for something to eat?” The bug-pony’s voice was oddly melodious, shimmering up and down the tonal ranges.

“No thank you,” said Lyra politely. “Never trust Fae food,” she added in an aside to Carrot Top. “All the legends say that’s how they entrap you.” A wave of her hoof indicated an emaciated cervid lying in a patch of lotus blossoms nearby, occasionally nibbling on one.

“Phooey,” pouted Lady Spring. “Ah well, better luck next time. Flitter, go set up a buffet for after the challenge. With the safe food only, of course. Nothing more intoxicating than what our champions would find in the Solid Lands.”

The bugpony buzzed off, and the Fae ruler turned to the four champions.

“Now, do you all know how to play Tic-Tac-Toe?”

“Yes…”, said Carrot Top inquisitively, and the others made similar noises of agreement.

“Ok, great!” chirped Lady Spring, and with a wave of her hoof the ground split open and a pair of tables rose out of it. Each table had a tic-tac-toe board scratched into the top, five black wood tokens with silver moon images on one side, and five white tokens with golden sun tokens on the other.

“Ok, so who wants to play whom?” asked Lady Spring.

There was a long moment’s pause.

“Do you seriously expect us to resolve this conflict between the true Queen of Equestria and her traitorous sister by playing Tic-Tac-Toe?” asked Kindle incredulously.

“Of course!” replied Lady Spring. “Why, are you refusing?” Her grin stretched to levels normally seen only on Pinkie Pie.

Kindle was a zealot, but unfortunately he was far from an idiot. “No, Lady Spring,” he replied. “If that is how you choose to resolve Luna’s rebellion, who am I to gainsay you? I’ll play Toppington.”

“And I guess that means I’m playing Smoke,” said Lyra resignedly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four ponies sat down across the tables. Lyra grabbed a token in her aura and placed it in the center of the board. Smoke rolled her eyes and placed a token of her own.

Less than a minute later, Lyra dropped the last token for a tie game. To her complete astonishment, the board let out a perfect cat’s meow, and the pieces sprouted legs and scurried back off the grid, before turning back into mere disks of wood.

“Again!” squealed Lady Spring.

As a cat meow erupted from Carrot Top’s board, Lyra placed her first token. Again the game ended in a tie and the pieces reset themselves. As the process continued, Lyra began to think.

Ok, so clearly a tie means we play again, and Tic-Tac-Toe is such an easy game that it’s practically impossible to not tie as long as we’re both paying attention. So…

“Meow!”

Oh, I think I get it. All the legends say that the Springfae are flighty, obsessed with novelty and fear boredom above all else. So the real challenge is…

“Meow!”

… The real challenge is to see which of us is willing to keep playing longer. Or else to keep playing until one of us is so tired that they can’t think straight and make a misplay so the other can win.

“Meow!”

Hmm… this could take a while. Unless I manage to figure out how to distract or disconcert Smoke. Maybe bring up Kindle’s crush on Raindrops?

“Meow!”

That’s going to get old really fast. I suppose the annoyingness of the tie is supposed to be part of the challenge.

“Meow!”

Aargh.

“Meow!”

Oh, and I need to tell Carrot Top this. Preferably without Kindle or Smoke overhearing.

Lyra grimaced internally as the tokens meowed yet again. On the one hoof, she’d never tried this particular spell before. On the other, it was well within the field of her talent, and she didn’t have any better ideas on how to get the requisite information across to Carrot Top.

So she carefully raised one leg and scratched her nose. Her use of telekinesis to move the tokens would cover her spellcasting and the leg would cover her mouth as she whispered. She had no idea if Smoke could read lips, but better safe than sorry.

“Carrot Top,” she whispered, praying to Luna that her spell was conveying the whisper to Carrot Top’s ear, “I think the point of this game is to see who can last the longest. Don’t ask for a break, I’m betting that makes you lose.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ring-Ring-Ring! Ring-Ring-Ring!”

Carrot Top half-jolted as the unfamiliar voice shouted from off to the side, somewhere near where Lady Spring was sprawled back atop her cushion “throne”. She glanced over, just in time to see Lady Spring produce what appeared to be an unpeeled banana from somewhere about her person and hold one end to her mouth and the other to her ear.

“Yes?” said Lady Spring as Carrot Top turned back to the game. There was a brief pause, during which the board meowed and reset itself for what felt like the thousandth time. Then Lady Spring spoke again.

“Wait, she’s here now? Next delivery isn’t supposed to be until… Oh. That is today. Very well, bring her in.”

Carrot Top and Kindle played two more rounds of Tic-Tac-Toe before a familiar voice became audible at the edge of her hearing.

“… and I don’t know what I’d say if he ever did ask. I mean, I love him and all, but marrying would have to mean moving to Canterlot, cause it’s not like he can be a Night Court noble from Ponyville, and to be fair I can …”

“Meow.”

“ … plan parties and bake just about as easily in Canterlot. Hey, come to think of it, don’t Night Court Nobles’ very special someponies put on parties for their very special somepony’s peers all the time, or else go to the parties that their very special sompony’s peers’ very special someponies are putting on?”

And Pinkie Pie came into view from down a staircase that was standing out in the open nearby. She was trotting along at a remarkably steady and sedate pace for Pinkie Pie, though that might be explained by the blue-and-white saddlebags slung over her back. She was accompanied by the pony-shaped bug from earlier and a pair of what looked like ambulatory rosebushes.

“Lyra! Carrot Top! I didn’t expect to be meeting you here and you have no idea how weird that feels, but my Pinkie Sense doesn’t work in here. I think it’s because I need to half-twist to get in here, and the Pinkie Sense is based on a half-twist itself, so two half-twists make a whole twist and that’s just normal. What are you doing?”

“Determining the fate of Equestria by playing Tic-Tac-Toe,” said Carrot Top, her voice dripping with sarcasm. The sarcasm was quickly scooped up by a cloud of what appeared to be pink-and-plum-striped honeybees.

“What are you doing here?” asked Lyra incredulously.

“Oh, Pinkie’s a regular visitor here,” said Lady Spring, descending from her cushion pile. “Mortal food, real mortal food, is almost as addictive to us as our food can be to you, if for the opposite reasons. You have no idea how good you have it being able to eat food that really tastes, doesn’t just pretend to taste, all the time. Pinkie’s one of the few who will come in…”

“Meow.”

“… and so nofae will bother her, not and risk getting our supply of baked goods cut off. One time she even got us a pizza.” She turned her focus to Pinkie. “You have the goods?”

“Yupparoonie!” replied Pinkie with a grin. “A dozen chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, a dozen plain cupcakes with lemon frosting, four loaves Prench bread, and a carrot cake.” Pinkie produced the last of the mentioned goods from her saddlebags and laid the box with the others, in a pile in front of Lady Spring.

“Meow,” declared Carrot Top’s board as she and Kindle tied yet again.

“And we have the goods you requested,” replied Flitter, producing several baggies and vials. It began to read off a checklist “Six younglings’ first laughs, half masculine and half feminine...” It gave Pinkie a small vial containing several faintly luminous objects that looked kind of like flower petals. “…a double bunch of cantomile,” it continued, passing Pinkie a bag of some unknown clear substance containing what looked like a bunch of brownish pine needles with bright red tips.

“I’d suggest using that in a soufflé myself,” interjected Lady Spring, “though really the flavor goes with quite a lot of things, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“Meow.”

“… Four ounces distilled blue,” Flitter continued, passing Pinkie another vial, this one containing some kind of extremely vivid blue liquid. “… and an ounce of sleep.” It added a final vial, this one containing a cobalt-blue powder.

“Perfect, just what I wanted. Now, before I go, there’s something I’d like as an advance on my next shipment’s bargain.” She leaned in closer and whispered something in Lady Spring’s ear while the tic-tac-toe game ended in yet another tie and meow.

“Sure, that can be done,” said Lady Spring after Pinkie pulled away. “But it’ll cost you a full dozen cupcakes, considering the delivery issues.”

Pinkie shrugged as she began to place her purchases in her saddlebags. “Fair enough. Sorry to rush off like this, but apparently La Commedia Della Luna is putting on a production of Much To-Do About Nothing, and Bluie’s got us surprise tickets. He thinks I’m in the fillies’ room right now, and there’s only so far I can push the time distortion.”

And with that she slung on her saddlebags and trotted back up the staircase.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!”

Lyra jumped back as if the token she had just placed had turned into a red-hot coal. The designs on the tokens shifted from suns and moons into arrows. Arrows that were all pointing not at Lyra, but at Smoke.

A moment later, Lyra saw one of Smoke’s sun tokens vanish and reappear in another space.

What the… Oh. Illusionist, right. She put up an illusion to make me think she’d put her token somewhere else. Clever mare. Just praise Luna that the fae magic evidently thinks this counts as breaking the rules.

“CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!”, the tokens continued to scream.

With a distinct FWOOMP!, a massive blob of pink fluff landed on top of Smoke. It then climbed to its paws and lumbered off to the side, Smoke’s face sticking out of its midsection.

Lady Spring trotted over and tapped one of the tokens with a hoof, causing them to finally stop screaming.

“And that’s one point to Luna’s side, everything!” shouted Lady Spring cheerfully. “Apprentice Smoke, you can spend a while in the the cotton candy elemental thinking about what you’ve done. Dame Heartstrings, as you can see Flitter’s put together a very nice banquet, and I promise that you won’t be eating anything drugged or enchanted without knowing about it.”

“And what cost would this generosity have?” asked Lyra skeptically.

“Dame Heartstrings,” said Lady Spring, “I am the host and you are the guest. To provide you with food and drink is well within my duties. If you must think of repayment, consider the entertainment you have provided and in all likelihood will continue to provide to be the recompense.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Your Steadfastness?” asked Lady Spring, rather nervously.

Lyra jerked awake from her half-daze. As the fae Lady had promised, the drugs and enchantments woven into the fae food had not been hidden. More to the point, there had been a surprising variety of entirely safe, normal, fruits and flowers. Evidently the cervids would often pay tribute to the fae in food in exchange for safety from fae torments, and this time of year most such tribute went to Spring. Lyra had quickly realized that she was quite hungry, and had enjoyed a refreshing lunch. Smoke had been released from her elemental imprisonment some time earlier, and had likewise lunched. The two ponies had exchanged very few words.

“Yes?” she replied, confused. Where had that title come from?

“I would like to offer you a bargain. There are a number of magics at my disposal that could be used to allow you and your mate to bring forth children of your own body and blood. There is a certain debt outstanding between us, and I could grant you the benefit of one or more of those magics in settlement.”

“What?” exclaimed Lyra. “How would you… are you going to turn me into a stallion or something?”

“That would certainly be one option,” replied Lady Spring, “but it wouldn’t be necessary if you didn’t want it. There’s a simple working, fueled by the emotional energy of sex, that allows sex between two females to produce pregnancy. And once the pregnancy is conceived, it should grow naturally without further need for magic. Or there are still other options.”

“Uh…” Lyra said, then remembered the other part of what Lady Spring had said. “And what do you mean there’s an outstanding debt between us? What did you do that you feel you have to make recompense for?”

“The debt was incurred in ancient times, long before you found your current vessel,” replied Lady Spring.

“Um…” said Lyra again, mulling that over for a moment. It sounded as though Lady Spring owed some kind of debt to Loyalty itself, and that debt had been transferred to her as its bearer. Then something occurred to her. “Wait a moment. What if I asked you to decide this match for Luna, right now? Would the debt you say you owe me cover that?”

Lady Spring shook her head. “The contest has already been declared and the rules set. To violate those rules now would skirt perilously close to breaking my word. But if you so desired, I could bestow some boon on Luna as repayment of your debt, irregardless of the outcome of the match. Is that the repayment you wish?”

Lyra was torn. On the one hoof, here was an opportunity to tilt the balance between Moon and Sun a little further towards the Princess’s side. On the second hoof, she already felt guilty over all the times she’d had to leave Bon Bon to go be Loyalty and all the stress and worry she’d put her love through. To use this favor to buy help for the Princess instead of using it for Bon Bon would be one more sacrifice to ask of Bon Bon, even if she never knew about it. But on the third hoof, there were other methods to get Bon Bon pregnant, or they could simply adopt when they decided they were ready for foals. And on the last hoof, this opportunity to help the Princess would not come again. Her internal debate was broken by the sound of trumpets from the direction of the Tic-Tac-Toe game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Blah blah blah,” said Kindle.

Ok, Carrot Top was pretty sure that he wasn’t actually saying “blah, blah, blah,” but whatever he was trying to say would probably be about as worthless to listen to. Besides which, she was quite familiar with the other’s stories about how charismatic the sun-crazed pegasus could be, and didn’t want to let him throw her off her game. And, of course, ignoring the ranting solartic was probably the best way to throw him off his game.

There was a certain trick to keeping just enough of her focus on the game to not make any mistakes, while still letting enough of her mind wander for the hours to slip freely by. Luckily for her, farming demanded a similar talent for mindful repetition, lest you suddenly realize that you’d planted the last three rows of carrot seeds without any fertilizer.

As she played, she began to sing quietly to herself. It was a habit she’d developed when faced with long stretches of repetitive work. This time, however, she’d semi-consciously made sure to select the most offensive (to Kindle at least) rhyme possible. Anything to keep the deranged pegasus off-balance.

“Noonday sun is rising high,” she hummed.

“Tyrant Sun now rules the sky”

“Hide, ye ponies, from her eye”

“Lest she see you and you die.”

“Blah blah Corona blah blah Sun blah blah crazy ranting,” continued Kindle. Carrot Top continued to ignore him. Her stomach grumbled. She hadn’t had any chance to eat before going to see the Fae emissary, and she certainly hadn’t had a chance since. And she could smell the fruits and flowers being served over off to the side. Still, she wasn’t about to forfeit a chance to win help for the Princess in her battle against Corona, not for mere fruits.

Then, suddenly, she saw it. Kindle had finally grown distracted enough to misplace his token. With a massive grin, she slammed hers down.

Kindle looked down, and she saw his face freeze as he realized his mistake. While the game wasn’t over, his loss was already assured. With a snarl of frustration, he played his token.

Click.

Click.

Click.

As Carrot Top placed the final token, the three crescent moons began to glow with a brilliant silver light, and there was the sound of trumpets.

“And it would appear that Dame Toppington has won her match!” announced Lady Spring. “So the boon of Spring goes to Princess Luna.”

She continued at a slightly lesser volume. “We’ve still a little time before Summer’s challenge is due to start. Voice, Dame Toppington, come on and have something to eat. And Flitter, get four night’s rests for our champions. Wouldn’t due to have them go into Summer’s trials bleary-headed. He’d never forgive me for ruining his fun.”

As Carrot Top and Kindle began to browse the buffet, Flitter arrived, levitating four glasses of some dark blue liquid in its aura.

“Here you are,” said Lady Spring cheerfully. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. It’s just a good night’s rest, nothing more. I promise.”

Carrot Top sighed, took the glass from Flitter, and downed it. The liquid was almost tasteless, something like a very diluted grape juice. But the effect upon drinking it was astonishing. As soon as she swallowed, she felt the fog lift from her mind. Around her, the other three ponies were likewise perking up just a little, hours of fatigue and boredom wiped away in an instant.

“That’s amazing,” said Carrot Top, and meant it.

“Why thank you,” replied Lady Spring cheerfully.

Carrot Top (happy) and Kindle (fuming, literally) made their way over to the buffet table and quickly filled their growling stomachs.

A short while later, Carrot Top was just considering whether to go back for seconds when there was a loud chime.

“Ah, I’m afraid that means our time is up,” said Lady Spring. “Now it’s on to Summer for the second test.”

Author's Note:

Again, my thanks to RainbowDoubleDash and Talon and Thorn for their advice on this chapter, without which many things would not have gone the way they did.

Comments

[_CheckMate_]

"... One time she even got us a pizza."

Someone's a Dresden fan.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Yay for Kindle and Smoke losing! I hope they get trapped there forever!